the cockrell bridge toll collector
somewhere in the midst of dallas' greenwood cemetery, if you look carefully enough, you will find the only remaining wooden gravestone in the entire dfw metroplex.

the greenwood cemetery is populated by some of dallas' most elite families. former mayors, sheriffs, and city founders are buried here. private william stewart simkins, who served under general jackson, is believed to have fired the first shot of the civil war. but the most facinating burial here is the discreet grave of one man marked only by a blank piece of wood.



i went to the greenwood cemetery to capture images of unique gravestones and sculpture from over a century ago. i was approached after a while by a middle-aged man carrying pruning shears. "you looking for anything in particular?" he asked me with a slight grin on his face. "not really," i said, "unless you know of something unusual i should see." his grin turned into a big toothy smile. "right over here" he said, leading me only a mere fifteen feet from where i was standing. i can't believe i hadn't seen it before. there it was, a plank of brown wood, standing a little more than two and a half feet out of the ground. the volunteer caretaker explained that it was the only one of it's kind remaining in dallas and that it belonged to a gentleman who at one time collected tolls for the first iron bridge to cross the trinity river.

in 1872, sixteen years after her husband alexander lost his life in a duel, sarah cockrell was responsible for the construction of the iron suspension bridge at commerce street. linking dallas with all major roads to the south and west, it is considered her greatest contribution to dallas. at the east end of the bridge stood a small brick house that was the home of the humble toll collector. i was told that the man who lived there was a loyal acquaintance of sarah cockrell's and served as toll collector until his death in the late 1880s. sarah cockrell, in an extreme show of gratitude, purchased a plot in the prestigious greenwood cemetery for the faithful toll collector. his headstone was never engraved, and numerous attempts to remove the "unsightly" plank of wood have so far been unsuccessful.
it's amazing that this piece of history has stood here for so long and not experienced the wrath of vandals or succumb to the brutality of erosion and decay. i'm glad i was able to see it and capture it forever on film.